Elia Eliev, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Fondation Baxter & Alma Ricard Foundation
ABOUT
Dr. Elia Eliev currently serves as the Executive Director of the Baxter & Alma Ricard Fondation. He was formerly a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in South African Art and Visual Culture at the University of Johannesburg. From 2018 to 2022, Dr. Eliev held the position of Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Thorneloe University at Laurentian.
Dr. Eliev holds a Ph.D. in Gender and Feminist Studies from the University of Ottawa, an MA in Critical Curatorial Cybermedia from the Haute école d’art et de design – Genève, and a B.F.A. (Honours) in Visual Arts from the University of Ottawa. His scholarly articles have been featured in academic journals such as Kritische Berichte, Kohl: A Journal for Body and Gender Research, and Masculinities: A Journal of Culture and Society.
He is a recipient of prestigious awards and grants, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Insight Development Grant), the National Research Foundation, the Canada Council of the Arts, and the Fondation Alma & Baxter Ricard. Dr. Eliev's research interests encompass global contemporary art, queer of color theory, critical race art history, masculinity studies, postcolonial and decolonial studies, and gender and sexuality studies in the Global South, with a particular focus on Lebanon and the GCC.
Dr. Eliev has conducted international field research at renowned institutions such as the Johannesburg Contemporary Art Foundation, Norval Foundation, Zeitz MOCAA, Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Akkasah Center for Photography, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, and the Sharjah Art Foundation. He has presented original single-authored papers at the annual conferences of the College Art Association (CAA), the Universities Art Association in Canada (UAAC), and the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA).
Throughout his career, Dr. Eliev has collaborated with various art institutions, including the National Art Gallery of Canada, the Contemporary Museum of Canadian Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chile, and the Tampereen Taidemuseo in Finland. He has also worked on curatorial projects with the Musée des Beaux-arts de Lausanne and the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève.
Photo © Elia Eliev, Louvre Abu Dhabi, 2019
RESEARCH
Principal Investigator,
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Insight Development Grant (2022-2023)
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in South African Art and Visual Culture,
Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Johannesburg (2021-2022)
Research Affiliate, Queer Asia Collective, (2019-2021)
Visiting Scholar, Akkasah: Center for Photography,
New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2019)
Research Affiliate, CCC Pre-Doctorate/PhD
CCC Programme, HEAD – Genève, Haute école d'art et de design (2011-2013)
PUBLICATIONS
Articles (Peer-Reviewed Journals)
Eliev, E. (2022). "Hidden Voices, Queer Twists in Akram Zaatari’s Majnounak (1997)." Masculinities: A Journal of Identity and Culture, 17: 56-83.
Eliev, E. (2021). "UnDisclosing Queernesss in Al-ilka al hamra." Kohl: A Journal for Body and Gender Research 6 (3): 387-401.
Eliev, E. (2016). "Uneasy Acts: Queer Readings of Zaatari's 'Hashem El Madani Project’." Kritische Berichte, edited by Änne Söll and Linda Hentschel, 44(4): 95-105.
Exhibition Catalogues
Eliev, E., A. Thézé and D. Gaudry (2014). Continuums: Ariane Thézé. Lyon, Rizhome.
Eliev, E. (2012). Anyse Ducharme: Arti/fiction Realities. Sudbury, Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario.
CONFERENCES
Sessions Chaired
2019
Queering (Post)Apartheid: Visual Culture in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Universities Art Association of Canada Conference, Hilton Québec, October 24-27.
Zanele Muholi, Queer Visualities: African Perspectives, Other Perspectives Conference, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, February 28-March 1.
2018
Co-Chair. Methodologies for the Contemporary Art of Global Asias. College Art Association Congress, Los Angeles, February 21-24 (Chair, Andrea D. Fitzpatrick).
2013
Marking the Territory: Shifting Face of Masculinities in Lebanon. Presented at the Gender and Feminism: New Interdisciplinary Perspective, Geneva University of Art and Design, May 27.
2012
Don’t Hold Back: Reverberating Queer Visual Productions. Presented at the Pre-Doctorate/PhD Seminar Session 3: Queer Inventions in Academic Disciplines, Daily Life, and Self-Governmentality; Transformations in Gender Enunciation, Geneva University of Art & Design, January 18.
2010
Re-Defining / Re-Mapping Queer Identities, 41st Annual Northeast Modern Language Association Conference, Hilton Montreal, Quebec, April 10.
Conference Presentations
2020
“My Eyes Speak the Truth:” Non-Binary Visibility in Khansa“Khayef,” National Women’s Studies Association Conference: The Poetics, Politics, and Praxis of Transnational Feminisms, The View from Queer: Gender Expression in Visual Culture of Global Souths Panel, Hilton Minneapolis, November 12-15. (Cancelled due to COVID-19).
2019
Translucent Bodies, Queer Masculinities: Lebanon, Diversities of the Arab World: Gender and Sexuality, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas and the School of Government and Social Sciences of Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City, 19-25 November.
Hidden Voices, Queer Bodies: Speaking Within Metaphors in ‘Majnounak,’ 2nd International Symposium on Men and Masculinities, Istanbul Şişli Nazim Hikmet Kültürve Sanat Merkezi, September 12-14.
Queer à la libanaise: Opaque Expressions in Akram Zaatari’s “Shou Bhebbak,” Queer Visualities: African Perspectives, Other Perspectives Conference, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, February 28-March 1.
2018
LGBTQ Issues NOW: Lebanon, The Mediterranean Research Group, Gender Issues in Mediterranean Countries Panel, University of Ottawa, February 2.
2017
Queer (In-)Visibilities: An Exploration of Arab Queer Visualities in Akram Zaatari’s “How I Love You,”Universities Art Association of Canada Conference – Not In, But Not Out: Negotiating Spaces of Queer Practices in Visual Arts Panel, Banff, Alberta, October 12-15.
Uneasy Acts: Queer Readings of Zaatari’s ‘Hashem El Madani Project,’ 2nd International Symposium of Men and Masculinities, Initiative for Critical Studies in Masculinities, Izmir, Turkey, September 8-10. (Conference cancelled due to political unrest)
2016
(Dis)Identifying Queerness in the Arab World: An Overview of Akram Zaatari’s Lens-Based Artworks, College Art Association Congress, Global Queer Art Panel, New York City Hilton Midtown, February 15-18.
2015
Staging the (Queer) Stage: Hashem El Madani’s Studio Practices, Universities Art Association of Canada Conference, Docufictions in the Contemporary Art of the Middle East Panel, NASCAD (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) University, Halifax, November 5-7.
My Lovestory: Metaphors of Queer Desires and Love in Zaatari’s ‘Crazy for You,’ Unruly Bodies: Gender/Norms/Resistance Conference – Corpoqueer Practices Panel, Belgian Network for Gender Studies, Brussels, October 29-30.
2013
Excavating Hidden Desires: A Postqueer Reading of Akram Zaatari’s Visual Production, Hypervisibility III – Beyond the Closet: Coming-Out Narratives in Transnational Visual Cultures, University of Ottawa, December 8-9.
2012
Reverberating Post-Queer Cultural Tunisian Productions: An Analysis of ‘The String,’ Universities Art Association of Canada Conference – Performativity Under Fire: Embodiment in Contemporary Middle Eastern Art Panel, Concordia University, Montreal, November 1-3.
The Politics of Location Revisited, 8th European Feminist Research Conference, Central European University, Department of Gender Studies and AtGender: European Association for Gender Research, Education and Documentation, May 17-20.
2010
Straight Up, Now Tell Me, 4th Annual International Asian Cultural Studies Association Conference, The Visual Imagination: Across Boundaries, Graduate School of English, Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand, November 1- 3.
2009
(Re)Dislocating the Queer Territory: In the Era of Hyper-Artificial (Re)Production, Northeast Popular Culture and American Culture Association, Queensborough Community College, Bayside, Queens, New York City, October 23- 24.
2008
Hide and (Go) Seek: The Representation of Gay Masculinities in Avant-Guard Performance Art, Hypervisibility II: Homosexualities in Contemporary Francophone Visual Cultures Conference, University of Stirling, June 25 – 27.
TEACHING
Thorneloe University
Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (Assistant Professor)
Introduction to Gender and Feminist Studies (taught in French) (2011-2021)
Critical Sexuality Studies (2017-2021)
Rethinking Masculinities (2017)
Global Queer Cinema (2019-2020)
Feminist Theories (online and on-campus) (2017-2020)
Female Sexualities (online) (2010-2019)
Women as Visual Artists I: A Women's Art History (online) (2019-2021)
Women as Visual Artists II: Contemporary Art and Contemporary Issues (online) (2019-2021)
Women and Popular Culture (2020)
Gender Issues in Education (2021)
Directed Reading and Research Seminar (2020)
Independent Study Project: Abject Performances (2019-2020)
Directed Study: Women’s Voices, Other Perspectives in Screenwriting (2019-2020)
University of Ottawa
Department of Visual Arts & Art History (Part-Time Professor)
Art and Gender (2020)
Special Topics: Global Perspectives on Queer Contemporary Art (Graduate Seminar) (2021)
Laurentian University
Department of Sociology (Sessional Instructor)
Feminist Studies in Humanities (taught in French) (2014)
Concordia University
Faculty of Fine Arts (Sessional Instructor)
Special Topics in Fine Arts: Sexual Representation in the Visual Arts (2017)